U.S. patent number 7,472,757 [Application Number 11/551,143] was granted by the patent office on 2009-01-06 for well packing.
This patent grant is currently assigned to Halliburton Energy Services, Inc.. Invention is credited to Jan Freyer.
United States Patent |
7,472,757 |
Freyer |
January 6, 2009 |
**Please see images for:
( Certificate of Correction ) ** |
Well packing
Abstract
Annular packer (2) arranged on the outside of a production
tubing (4) said packer comprises a core (12) comprising elastic
polymer swelling by absorption of hydrocarbons. The core (12) may
be surrounded by an external mantle of rubber (10), which is
permeable to hydrocarbons and may be equipped with a reinforcement
(11). The core (12) swells by absorption of hydrocarbons and the
packer (2) expands thus in order to seal the annular space (5)
between the production tubing (4) and the well wall (6).
Inventors: |
Freyer; Jan (Hafrsfjord,
NO) |
Assignee: |
Halliburton Energy Services,
Inc. (Houston, TX)
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Family
ID: |
19911555 |
Appl.
No.: |
11/551,143 |
Filed: |
October 19, 2006 |
Prior Publication Data
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Document
Identifier |
Publication Date |
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US 20070151723 A1 |
Jul 5, 2007 |
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Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
Issue Date |
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10380100 |
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7143832 |
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PCT/NO01/00275 |
Jun 29, 2001 |
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Foreign Application Priority Data
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Sep 8, 2000 [NO] |
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20004509 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
166/387; 166/187;
166/179 |
Current CPC
Class: |
E21B
43/103 (20130101); E21B 33/1208 (20130101); E21B
33/12 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
E21B
33/12 (20060101) |
Field of
Search: |
;166/387,179,187,294,295 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Foreign Patent Documents
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04-363499 |
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Dec 1992 |
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JP |
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09-161686 |
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Jun 1997 |
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JP |
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2000-064764 |
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Feb 2000 |
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JP |
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Other References
Search Report dated Nov. 13, 2001 for International Application No.
PCT/NO01/000275. cited by other .
Letter from the Opponent dated Jan. 31, 2007 in European
application No. EP01958642.9. cited by other .
Communication of a Notice of Opposition in European application No.
01958642.9. cited by other .
Kirk-Othmer, Encyclopedia of Chemical Technology, 1993, vol. 6,
title page, index page, and p. 70. cited by other .
The Concise Oxford Dictionary, 7th ed., 1985, title page, and pp.
148, 149, 360, 361, 740 and 741. cited by other .
Halliburton response dated Jul. 18, 2007 (15 pages). cited by other
.
Letter from Opponent dated Aug. 22, 2007 (11 pages). cited by
other.
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Primary Examiner: Thompson; Kenneth
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Smith; Marlin R.
Parent Case Text
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
The present application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser.
No. 10/380,100, filed Jun. 16, 2003 now U.S. Pat. No. 7,143,832,
which is a national stage filing under 35 USC 371 of international
application no. PCT/NO01/00275, filed Jun. 29, 2001, which claims
priority to Norway application serial no. 20004509, filed Sep. 8,
2000. The entire disclosures of these prior applications are
incorporated herein by this reference.
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. An apparatus for use in conjunction with a subterranean well,
the apparatus comprising: an expandable element including a core,
and a membrane at least partially covering the core, the core
including a first material which swells in response to contact with
a hydrocarbon fluid, and the membrane including a second material
which swells less than the first material swells in response to
contact with the fluid.
2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the membrane is permeable to
the fluid.
3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the membrane is impermeable to
the fluid.
4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the membrane has at least one
opening therein which permits contact between the first material
and the fluid.
5. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a reinforcement
material which reinforces the membrane.
6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the second material swells at
a slower rate than the first material swells in response to contact
with the fluid.
7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the fluid diffuses through the
second material at a slower rate than the fluid diffuses through
the first material.
8. An apparatus for use in conjunction with a subterranean well,
the apparatus comprising: an expandable element including a core,
and a membrane at least partially covering the core, the core
including a first material which swells in response to contact with
a hydrocarbon fluid, and the membrane including a second material,
wherein the hydrocarbon fluid diffuses through the membrane to
contact the core, and wherein the fluid diffuses through the second
material at a slower rate than the fluid diffuses through the first
material.
9. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the second material swells
less than the first material swells in response to contact with the
fluid.
10. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the membrane is permeable to
the fluid.
11. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the membrane has at least one
opening therein which permits contact between the first material
and the fluid.
12. The apparatus of claim 8, further comprising a reinforcement
material which reinforces the membrane.
13. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the second material swells at
a slower rate than the first material swells in response to contact
with the fluid.
14. An apparatus for use in conjunction with a subterranean well,
the apparatus comprising: an expandable element including a core,
and a membrane at least partially covering the core, the core
including a first material which swells in response to contact with
a selected fluid, and the membrane including a second material,
wherein the membrane has at least one opening therein which permits
contact between the first material and the fluid, and wherein the
second material swells at a slower rate than the first material
swells in response to contact with the fluid.
15. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the second material swells
less than the first material swells in response to contact with the
fluid.
16. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the membrane is permeable to
the fluid.
17. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the selected fluid includes
hydrocarbon fluid.
18. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the membrane is impermeable
to the fluid.
19. The apparatus of claim 14, further comprising a reinforcement
material which reinforces the membrane.
20. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the fluid diffuses through
the second material at a slower rate than the fluid diffuses
through the first material.
Description
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a method of the nature as stated
in the introduction of claim 1 for sealing of an annular space
between a well wall in a production well for hydrocarbons and a
production tubing, to a peripheral annular packer of the nature as
stated in the claims 2-10, comprising an expandable element mainly
consisting of rubber material, and to the expanding annular packer
for application in said method
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Completion of oil wells with sand control screens in open hole is a
simple and reliable method by to complete a reservoir section. An
oil well normally penetrates formations with varying production
features, which, in spite of the fact that the sand control screens
are closed on the inside, may cause that undesired well fluid
by-passes on the outside of these and flow into the section.
Therefore, it may be desired to control or shut off sections, which
do not produce desired well fluid. This necessitates sealing the
external annulus.
Today such seal is achieved by application of inflatable, open-hole
packers (external casing packers), which are pressurised by
injecting a fluid, which is confined by means of a valve system. As
soon as the packer is pressurised, it is unable to follow movements
in the face of the formation. Further it is sensitive to changes in
temperature and pressure, and there are often considerable problems
to achieve a complete seal. Another disadvantage is that the
installation of the packer is expensive since well operations
requiring complicated equipment are requisited.
From U.S. Pat. No. 4,137,970 a packer is known with an element
which by a chemical swelling process result in expansion of the
element upon contact with water present in the well at the moment
the packer is introduced to the bore hole. The packer element is
employed in mining, where water is to be drained from an aquiferous
layer above a clay layer. The sealing consists of an expanding
packer element. During such a swelling process the packer element
will initially expand fast, before it expands slower. This is
impractical in an oil well, since the packer will expand before it
is placed in the final operating position in the well. This implies
that the packer may be put in the wrong position in the well, if it
was to be employed in an application like the present invention and
cause that the completion string can not be inserted to its planned
final position. Application of a medium swelling in water will
cause the element to expand upon contact with all regular applied
completion fluids or drilling fluids.
From U.S. Pat. No. 4,633,950 polymer particles are known suspended
in a special water based carrier fluid, which by circulation
pumping shall be injected into a lost circulation zone. The patent
does not relate to a packer element, but to a dispersion which
shall trickle into porous/fractured rock. The features of such a
dispersion implies that it can not be held in place in order to
form a solid plug in the annular space of the well. Further, the
particles will upon contact with hydrocarbons expand very rapidly
due to the large surface area of the small particles. Only minor
impurities of remaining oil in the system will therefore result in
an undesired early expansion. Moreover, the particles in such a
system will not expand at all if they do not contact hydrocarbons
before the well is flowing back. This may lead to the polymer being
produced with the produced fluids.
Most rubbers have a larger absorption capacity and faster swelling
in an aromatic and/or naphtenic hydrocarbon than in an aliphatic
hydrocarbon. Most rubbers also have considerably less swelling in
water based fluid than in an oil based fluid.
Generally base-oils used in drilling fluids have a higher portion
of aliphatic (80-100%) constituents than produced hydrocarbons,
normally having 35-80% aliphatic constituents. This implies that
most rubbers will have a larger and faster expansion in produced
hydrocarbons than in drilling fluids.
PURPOSE OF THE INVENTION
The purpose of the present invention is to enable completion of
reservoir sections by complete annular seal, at the same time as
the invention allows variations in operational parameters and
geological conditions without changing the functionality of the
invention. The packer will expand less while the packer is inserted
into the well in a drilling fluid or completing fluid than by
exposure to hydrocarbons produced from the formation.
This is achieved by the present method for sealing of an annular
space between a well wall in a production well for hydrocarbons and
a production tubing with a peripheral annular packer comprising an
expandable element mainly consisting of rubber material
characterised in that in said element a rubber is used which
expands by absorbing hydrocarbons, and that the annular packer is
inserted mainly by exposing the expanding element to hydrocarbons
included in the product of the well.
Further the invention provides an expanding annular packer for use
in the method for sealing of the annular space, comprising an
expanding element consisting mainly of rubber material which is
characterised in that the expanding element is directed to
expanding mainly by absorbing hydrocarbons produced by the
underground formation.
Further features of the invention are given in the claims 3-10.
SHORT DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES
FIG. 1 is a longitudinal section through an area of a production
well illustrating the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a longitudinal section of a production tubing with an
annular packer according to the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a section along the line III-III in FIG. 2.
In the following, the invention is further described. The permanent
annular packer 2 for use in hydrocarbon production wells,
preferably oil production wells, is placed on the outside of a pipe
4, said packer expands by the core 12 swelling upon exposure for
and absorption of hydrocarbons. The packer therefore seals the
annular space 5 towards the well wall 6. The production well may be
an open-hole well or a well with a casing, which is characterised
in that the production tubing 4 is drawn in an open hole or that
the production tubing 4 is drawn in a casing (not shown),
respectively. Thus the annular space 5 consists of the external
surface of the production tubing 4 and the bore hole wall, or the
external surface of the production tubing 4 and the internal
surface in the casing, respectively.
An oil stream 1 flows past a packer element 2 before the packer
element 2 is expanded and sealing towards the well wall 6. A sand
control filter 3 is attached to a production tubing 4. A packer
element 2' is expanded and sealing towards the well wall 6 so that
a well fluid 7 can not bypass the packer element in the annular
space 5.
An external, protecting mantle 10 equipped with a reinforcement 11
surrounds a core 12 comprising elastic polymer, said coating works
as a permeable membrane. The external mantle 10 comprises a rubber
with higher resistance and lower rate of diffusion towards
hydrocarbons than the core 12. The packer element, which may
consist of a mantle 10, reinforcement 11 and core 12, is placed on
the outside of a tube 4.
The packer 2 consists of a core 12 comprising an elastic polymer,
e.g. EPDM rubber, styrene butadiene, natural rubber, ethylene
propylene monomer rubber, ethylene propylene diene monomer rubber,
ethylene vinyl acetate rubber, hydrogenized acrylonitrile-butadiene
rubber, acrylonitrile butadiene rubber, isoprene rubber,
chloroprene rubber or polynorbornene, said core is swelling in
contact with and by absorption of hydrocarbons so that the packer
expands. The rubber of the core may also have other materials
dissolved or in mechanical mixture, such as fibres of cellulose
processed as described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,240,800. Additional
options may be rubber in mechanical mixture with polyvinyl
chloride, methyl methacrylate, acrylonitrile, ethylacetate or other
polymers expanding by contact with oil.
An external, reinforced mantle 10 protects the core towards direct
exposure to drilling fluid and hydrocarbons. At the same time the
mantle 10 allows migration of hydrocarbons to the core 12 and
swelling (and thus expanding of the packer). The external,
reinforced mantle 10 comprises rubber, for example acrylonitrile,
hydrogenated nitrile, chloroprene, ethylene vinylacetate rubber,
silicone, ethylene propylene diene monomer, butyl,
chlorosulphonated polyethylene, polyurethane, ACM, BIMS or other
types of rubber having less expansion or slower diffusion than the
core and a reinforcement 11, preferably fibre reinforcement, e.g.
kevlar, said reinforcement reinforces the external mantle 10. An
essential feature of the rubber in the mantle 10 is that it has a
swelling in drilling fluids, which is slower than the core 12. With
"a higher resistance towards hydrocarbons" is here meant that the
rubber only to a small degree swells upon exposure to
hydrocarbons.
Several elastic polymers have a considerable absorption of
hydrocarbons without absorption of water, and the polymers in the
present invention are predominantly hydrophobic. By immersion in a
hydrocarbonaceous medium, hydrocarbons migrate into and through the
external mantle 10 and further into the core 12, which is swelling
upon absorption of these.
The present invention provides several benefits compared to state
of the art. The packer adjusts continuously to variations in the
movements of the formation or washouts of the borehole, which
implies that better shutting off/sealing between reservoir sections
may be achieved and undesired well fluid can not flow past the
packer element in the annular space. There is no need for well
operations when installing the packer, which represents cost
savings compared to today's methods for installation. The packer
has no moving parts and is thus a simple and reliable device. The
packer expands faster and more in a produced hydrocarbon, than in a
water based or oil based drilling fluid or completion fluid at the
same temperature and will thus expand less when the packer is
immersed in drilling fluid.
In another embodiment of the present invention, the core 12 is
surrounded by an external mantle of rubber, e.g. a nitrile which is
not reinforced.
In further another embodiment of the present invention, the core 12
is surrounded by an outer web which may be the reinforcement.
In a further embodiment of the present invention the core 12 is
surrounded by an external mantle of rubber, e.g. a nitrile, said
mantle in itself does not let hydrocarbons penetrate, but a small
part 11 of the core 12 is exposed directly to hydrocarbons through
openings 20 in the outer coating.
In an even further embodiment of the present invention the core 12
is not surrounded by an external mantle, but is exposed directly to
hydrocarbons. In this aspect, the core 12 has a composition
comprising elastic polymer with sufficient features to fulfil the
desired functions of the packers.
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